The Shed Hunting Addiction

Mark Kayser

Some days the prize is nothing more than exercise and the opportunity to spend a day enjoying outdoor splendor. That's fine with me. Other days can bring the treasure of a handful of antlers or, if you're lucky, a pack full of the pointy prizes.

I can't explain it. Most others I know afflicted with the same disorder face similar pains justifying their actions. Why would one spend countless hours hiking woodlands, clamoring up cliff-like precipices, wading through cattail jungles and tackling the worst of spring weather to pick up a cast antler? There isn't even the reward of a meaty venison steak after the laborious task.

I've had those thoughts over and over again when questioned by my loving spouse on the collection of thousands of antlers cluttering my barn amid a hasty departure for yet another trip to look for more. Sure, some do it for the reward of a paycheck mainly from antler artists, but for most it is simply described best as an addiction dating to our caveman ancestors.

Opening day isn't regulated by a game-and-fish commission, aside from a few Western states for the protection of wintering game. Mother Nature rings the opening bell, usually in March. And the "season" continues until the green grass hides sheds or mineral-hungry rodents gnaw antlers to barely recognizable nubs.

Anticipation escalates by weekend scoping of local bucks and bulls from afar to measure when the bulk of them have jettisoned their headgear. My local community has a penned herd of elk, and come spring I check the daily status of the herd bull's antlers to measure when free-ranging cousins may finish shedding. If the winter has been particularly unforgiving animals may shed earlier, but most years antlers fall off in a timely matter comparable to the rising and setting of the sun. From that point on your take depends primarily on your available free time and your physical endurance.

Locating an antler brings instant satisfaction, but once the warm feeling subsides it can also shed a wealth of information for those willing to look beyond the initial fortune. My best scouting for the coming season is from spring shed hunting. Why? I'm not afraid to venture into bedrooms, sanctuaries and other hideouts I deem off-limits most other times of the year in fear of spooking game into pattern-changing moves.

Rubs, scrapes, wallows and heavily used trails all stand out in the bareness before spring showers vegetate the landscape. Of course the antler itself reveals whether a particular animal survived hunting season and winter's brutality. But you may also stumble across the carcasses of other big game less fortunate, giving you solid information on what animal densities to expect in the fall. If you hunt migrating game, use the location of shed antlers to backtrack and locate prime habitat to target in hunting season. Put it all together and you have a solid plan in place on where to begin next season's hunt. That's a goal equally as valuable as the shed antler in hand.

Make It Fun

Bringing newcomers to the fold? Reactive targets provide instant gratification and enhance the shooting experience—especially for new shooters. Short on paper targets? Don't forget your old biodegradables. Popping apples off the fence or exploding half a dozen eggs kicks the fun up a notch. Water balloons, golf balls, gongs, clay birds and—last but not least—tin cans make for fun and inexpensive targets.

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Like the fossilized skeletons of its ancestors displayed in the Smithsonian, a 12-foot alligator can be scary even when it's dead—something that Shooting Illustrated's Adam Heggenstaller learned in person during a gator hunt in Florida. Read More »

34.4 million

Number of U.S. citizens who participated in informal target shooting on their own property in 2009.

1.3 million

Number of Rifle Shooting merit badges awarded by the Boy Scouts of America from 2006-2010 (earning the badge through use of .22 rifles exclusively is not required to achieve Eagle Scout, yet it is the 12th most popular merit badge earned)

134.5 million

Number of days of U.S. participation in rifle target shooting in 2010

2-3 billion

Number of rimfire cartridges sold each year in America

95.5 million

Number of U.S. adults who would be "extremely" to "somewhat" interested in participating in shooting sports in the future (based on 2010 Harris interactive poll)

462,537

Number of .22-caliber handguns produced in the United States in 2009

fast fact

Bighorn sheep in North America have increased in population from 17,000 in the 1960-70s to more than 70,000 today.